Her Dark Curiousity

Author: Megan Shepard
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: January 28, 2014

Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau's horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.

As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father's creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again. As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger.

With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

The only way I can see Her Dark Curiosity in a positive light is to make a drinking game out of it. Take a shot whenever someone says "relatively simple". Or when Juliet bemoans her heritage. Or when she makes a comparison between herself and Edward. Oh, how different they are from the sheeple of London. Trapped in the struggle of man and beast. You're both monsters, caught between worlds. My heart weeps. The struggle is real.

Frankly, I don't care for Juliet's issues anymore. Her father's so-called madness runs through her veins. Can she please move on and accept it already? Because this drama has been drawn out for far too long. While the idea may have been intriguing in The Madman's Daughter, Juliet has to bring it up in every chapter, sounding more like a broken record every time.

"What you hate is what you are. An animal, just like me."

Of course, her inner demons play a huge part in muddling with her affections. As Juliet's desire to sin grows, so does her attraction to Edward. If he had been raised in captivity longer or as a boy that was turned into a beast, I would have fewer qualms with their relationship. But appearances aside, he's only a year old. And he's an amalgamation of heron, monkey, and jackal, apparently. Whenever they shared a sensual moment between the pages, I could feel nothing but disgust.

Edward and I were connected in a deep way—a primal way—that Montgomery would never understand.

My annoyance with this love triangle was furthered when Juliet made Montgomery out to be the bad guy, even though he's better than the lot of them. I couldn't help but laugh sometimes when Montgomery claimed he was the monster in this story. Like, dude. Maybe you're better off not knowing what the others have been doing.

The hopeful look in [Lucy's] eye told me her feelings for Edward hadn't dimmed despite the terrible truths I'd told her.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Lucy. The possibility of romance between her and Edward disturbs me. Her affections were too underdeveloped, as well as her character. I didn't care for her as much as I should. I know she's sheltered and all, especially considering her background, but she acts like a child. I never looked forward to any of her appearances.

In short, I had a lot of laughs. I raged harder than I should have. Some descriptions were very repetitive, and revelations too sudden. The international edition was riddled with typos. My final say is that it should have been polished more, and it could have been better. Her Dark Curiosity has left me hesitant to read A Cold Legacy.